


The Spanners in the Works

by Dt25741, scorpioblueeyes



Category: Original Work, Overlord - Maruyama Kugane & Related Fandoms
Genre: Ainz becomes a monster, Ainz faces people with enough power to stand against him, Albedo and Demiurge are monsters, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Are the lizardmen chopped liver?, Bisexuality, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Chronic Hero Syndrome, Cuddling & Snuggling, Deconstruction, Dubious Morality, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Heroes forced to do bad things by villains, Hostage Situations, Imperialism, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, Lots and Lots of OCs, M/M, Multi, New World inhabitants take on a level of badass, POV Multiple, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Revolutionary Girl Utena References, Self-Discovery, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Self-Hatred, Self-Indulgent, Seriously Overlord fandom?, Shalltear bonds with a priest over pranking Albedo, Sharing a Bed, Team Bonding, Team Dynamics, Team as Family, Thanks to meddling ocs, Why am I the first one to tag Zaryusu and Crusch?, wrong context magic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-29
Updated: 2019-08-29
Packaged: 2020-09-29 12:40:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20436176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dt25741/pseuds/Dt25741, https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorpioblueeyes/pseuds/scorpioblueeyes
Summary: When Satoru Suzuki was transported into the New World, he had at most expected to see other players from YGGDRASIL. He never would have suspected that people from other universes besides his own wound up in the New World. But unbeknownst to the Overlord Lich, twelve powerful individuals have scattered throughout the world and allied themselves with the inhabitants. These individuals possess power: power enough to stand up to Ainz and create problems in his plans. Power enough to be spanners in his works.





	The Spanners in the Works

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I know my readers for my other fics haven't heard from me in a while, and I'm sorry about that. But a combination of my work, college, and trying to write my original works cut into my time to write my other stories. The only reason I'm doing this story is because it's a collaboration between me and my best friend, crossing over characters from our original works and throwing them into the Overlord setting. This is mainly a writing exercise to flesh out our characters and power system and see how they interact with the Overlord setting and characters. I might go back to my other stories at some point, but I'm not sure when.  
Anyway, as I said, this is crossover between Overlord, my friends book "Ignotus Inferno", and our collaborative work "The Roamers". I know most fanfic readers hate ocs, but most writers write fan fics for themselves anyway, so what can you do? That said, I do hope readers who do take the time read this story will enjoy what we've wrote, as we did try to make it so our ocs don't overshadow the characters in Overlord plotwise.

The Baharuth Empire: a shining, bountiful kingdom that stood as a monument to human progress. Or at least, that’s how it appeared on the surface. Located east of the Azerlisia Mountains, the Empire was among one of the many nations founded after the defeat of the Evil Deities over 200 years ago. The country was ruled by a feudal system, with an Emperor given the divine right to rule from his father, and a noble upper class meant to aid the Emperor in his mission to make his country prosper. Indeed, if no one from the other country were looking too closely, everything would seem to be working perfectly. 

However, for the ordinary folk living in the Empire, life was full of strife and misery. The noble upper class meant to protect the people instead turned on them, seeing them as nothing but tools to use as they see fit. Day after day, the upper class lived in lavish luxury with overstuffed stomachs, while the commoners were continually ground down by poverty. Knights and noblemen would strike out at the lower class for the slightest mistake, often having them beat within an inch of their lives before throwing them into the dungeons. For two centuries, the nobility of the Empire ruled over its citizens, taking from the peasants as they saw fit, with no one having the power or courage to stop them.

Until one day, when a certain emperor perished, his son took it upon himself to purge the corruption from his country. To secure his rule, the boy would order his entire family and any other noble he saw as a threat be swiftly purged and killed. The enormous amount of violence used during this purge caused would earn him the nickname "Bloody Emperor."

Such a change didn’t happen overnight, however. In the first months of his rule, the new Emperor struggled with having the power to put his plans into motion. After all, the noblemen had guards of their own, some of which were powerful enough to almost be considered a private military. For a while, it seemed that his plans had been doomed before they had even begun.

But just as the young Emperor had given up hope for his plans, the answer to his prayers appeared before him in his castle.

…….

It was a dreary winter day in the capital of the Baharuth Empire. The wet, musty scent of ozone was building in the air. As such, the people of the city were rushing to go about their business before the rain let loose on them. 

However, there was one person in the city who didn't appear to be in any hurry. A young man who, though a mere nineteen years, towered over every human in the town with his height. On the rare instances when the sunbeams would break through the clouds, his skin would shine like bronze, his strawberry blonde hair glittered like flames, and his deep blue eyes shone like twin sapphires. This, combined with his large muscular build that simple black, form-fitting pants and shirt served to flatter, gave him a look of an experienced knight or adventurer of some caliber. If any were paying any attention to him, that is.

The young man had his hands behind his head, absentmindedly whistling to himself as he looked back and forth, looking for a bar or restaurant to wait out the impending rain. After a few moments, he spotted a bar to his left and headed towards it. He walked through the door just before the rain started to fall.

“Give me the strongest drink you have.” He called as he settled down on a chair in front of the bartender’s desk. The barkeep nodded and filled a tankard with alcohol.

“Enjoy your poison.” The barkeep grumbled.

“I make no promises.” The young man replied. Alcohol didn’t have any effect on him, as his body burned away all manner of poisons almost instantly, but that sure as hell wouldn’t stop him from at least _trying_ to get hammered. Especially after the painful journey to the capital.

The young man had just had the glass to his lips when he heard a scream from the other end of the bar. He glanced over to see a fat man in a tacky suit that could only belong to a nobleman pulling on the arm of a protesting woman.

“I said no!” the woman screamed, trying and failing to get the man to release his grip.

“Come on, just join me in my wagon!” the nobleman slurred. “You can’t go walking out in the rain, and you owe me for that drink I paid for!”

“You really expect me to believe your intentions are as pure as that?!” the woman cried.

“Maybe not…” the man gave a lecherous grin through crooked teeth. “But who are you to refuse a noble?”

The young man on the counter sighed, mumbling curses under his breath, as he put down his drink. He gave one last look around the bar to see if anyone was going to intervene. He saw a group of knights dressed in steel armor, with their weapons nearby, but they weren’t doing anything. As usual, it was down to him.

“Hey!” the young man shouted as he stomped over to the noble, who froze at the gruff voice yelling at him. “The lady said no! Let her go and find someone you can pay enough to have sex with you! Though to be honest, I seriously doubt you’ll find anyone with standards _that _low.”

“W-what did you just say to me?!” the fat man growled, letting go of the woman’s arm to point at the blonde. “Do you have any idea who I am?!”

“Your sense of entitlement tells me you’re a noble.” The young man replied with a roll of his eyes. “Apparently what my brother said was true. Money can’t buy you class.”

“Why you…!” the noble reared back his fist and swung at the young man, who dodged to the side and stock out his leg, tripping the nobleman. The nobleman’s head hit the table with a loud crack.

The whole bar stared in stunned silence as the nobleman groaned, pressing his palm to his bleeding head. Then, the nobleman growled, looking up at the mysterious man with bloodshot, hate-filled eyes. “GUARDS!” he roared. “SEIZE HIM!!!!”

The young man sighed as the five soldiers sitting around the bar stood up and surrounded him, barring their weapons at him. “Don’t make this difficult kid….” the nearest one wielding a sword grumbled. “We don’t get paid enough for this…”

“And apparently not enough to deal with nobles who can’t keep their hands to themselves…” the young man deadpanned. “Nice to know you haven’t forgotten your knightly vows….”

The knight growled and swung his sword at the young man, who ducked under the swipe and slugged the knight in the face. Another knight charged with his spear from behind, but somehow his intended victim managed to grab behind him with pinpoint accuracy and seize the polearm. The young man tugged, pulling the guard off his feet and slamming him into another advancing guard. Without missing a beat, the young man swept the legs out from under the fourth guard, grabbing his head as he fell and slamming it down onto a nearby table so hard it shattered. Finally, the young man grabbed a chair and with one hand, smashed it effortlessly over the head of the last knight, knocking him out cold.

The young man looked around, seeing if there was anyone else that planned to attack him, but all he saw was the stunned stares of the patrons and the barkeep. He gave a grunt of satisfaction before turning his gaze on the nobleman on the floor. The nobleman just had enough time to cry out before the young man seized him by the throat and started to drag him outside.

“I’ll be back to pay in a second, I’ve just gotta take care of this first,” he called to the bartender behind him, who only looked on in shock as the door to the bar swung shut. Turning the corner to the alley, he swung the now red-faced nobleman around and slammed him against the stone wall with one hand.

“All right, _friend_," he growled, his voice dripping with malice. "Tell me where I can find your boss, and I might consider leaving some of your teeth in…."

“W-w-what?!” The nobleman gasped. In response, the hand on his throat squeezed harder. The nobleman tried to loosen the viselike grip around his neck but to no avail.

“This is the third time this week I’ve seen you piece of shit nobles treat your citizens like dirt.” the young man continued. “I’m starting to think that maybe this is a problem that goes all the way up. So….” The young man looked at the noble dead in the eyes, and the fat man’s heart stopped when he saw that his blue eyes had turned a glowing, bloody crimson. “Take me to the king._ Now_.”

….

Emperor Jircniv Rune Farlord El Nix sighed as he looked over the list he made. He leaned over the table, which just been polished so thoroughly that he could see his golden-haired and amethyst eyed reflection stare back at him. 

“Flunder…. Have any of the nobles agreed to the decrees that I’ve written?”

El Nix looked to his advisor, a wrinkled elderly man of short stature, possessing a magnificent white beard, with a head full of snow-white hair. He wore a soft, loose white robe, which contrasted quite nicely with the red and black tunic the Emperor was currently wearing, and numerous magical rings. Most would find the old man unassuming, but El Nix could see the light of wisdom in his eyes, though at the moment there was some weariness as well.

“No…” Flunder replied. "I'm afraid that none of them were all too thrilled about the notion of increased educational opportunities for the poor and slaves…"

“Tch, of course…” El Nix growled. “It was naïve to assume they’d fall in line just because I’m the emperor….”

"Of course, it was," Flunder replied. “Not without some guarantee of punishment for disobedience.”

“So, it looks like my first assumption was unfortunately correct.” El Nix muttered. “I’ll have to cull the nobles if true progress is to happen.”

“But do you have the resources to do that?” Flunder asked. “With enough speed and discretion, there won’t be a power vacuum once they’re removed, but I’m not so certain we’re capable of such a feat as of this moment.”

"I know…" the Emperor said. "I had hoped to enact my policies soon, but at this rate, it might take decades…"

Suddenly, the door to the council room slammed open. “EMPEROR EL NIX!” a guard shouted as he ran up to the golden throne.

"What business do you have here?" the Emperor demanded as the guard kneeled before him.

“THERE’S AN INTRUDER!” the guard cried. “A STRONG ONE!”

El Nix blinked at the guard impatiently. “And this was a matter you saw fit to inform me about? Surely the Royal Guards can handle one intruder….”

“W-we’re trying!” the guard stammered. “But… he’s so strong! He’s swatting all of us aside like we’re nothing!”

“What?!” Flunder growled. “Where is he now…?”

“Well, this looks important!” a voice from behind the iron council doors called. There was a booming crash, and the doors broke from the wall and flew off their hinges, clattering at the foot of the throne. Emperor El Nix looked up to see a mountain of a warrior, fist extended, wearing armor of fiery crimson. Though the Emperor couldn't see the stranger's face, he could sense that he was glaring at him.

“That’s him!” the guard cried. “He made it all the way here?!”

The man in crimson armor strode up to the table like he owned the castle, making his way to the young Emperor. Partway to the throne, his armor shone brightly for a moment and then vanished into thin air. Now that he was closer, El Nix saw that the man had strawberry blonde hair that seemed to be bellowing like flames behind him and eyes that were as blood-red as his armor. Those eyes bore right into the Emperor as he approached. “You’re the emperor of this country, I take it?”

“Speaking.” El Nix replied, managing to keep his cool despite the man’s attempts to intimidate him.

“Who are you?!” Flunder shouted, putting himself between the Emperor and the stranger. "How dare you show up in the emperor's council room unannounced?"

The stranger stopped, looking the elderly man up and down before making an unimpressed scoffing sound. “Ignotus Richmond Hayes. I'm here to talk to the Emperor."

“May I ask how you managed to make it this far?” El Nix asked, raising an eyebrow. “From what this guard told me, he and his fellow knights tried their damnedest to stop you. And yet, here you are.”

The man called Ignotus chuckled. “No offense, but your so-called elite guard are pretty pathetic. They charged me all at once, and they still couldn't touch me. Though to be fair, most of that was because they kept getting in each other’s way. Seriously, who the hell trained them? You can’t just bum rush your opponent with no plan or coordination. That’s how friendly fire happens.”

El Nix looked at his advisor. “Flunder, do you think he’s telling the truth?”

Flunder observed the man for a moment, before nodding. “He does stand before us unchallenged, and there were no marks upon his armor...”

“I see.” El Nix nodded, standing up to meet his visitor. “So Ignotus, what is so urgent that you so loudly storm your way into my castle unannounced?”

"I just had a run-in with one of your 'nobles.'" Ignotus grunted. “Kept trying to force a lady into a carriage despite her protests. When I told him to fuck off, he tried to punch me and set the guards on me.”

El Nix sighed. “Another nobleman dirtying the name of his post….”

“Seems to be a common occurrence in this kingdom.” Ignotus sneered. “Just yesterday, I caught a duke chasing children in his carriage, shooting at them with a crossbow. And the day before that, I stopped a duchess from whipping a slave to death just for bumping into her. With today’s little _incident_, I’m starting to think their boss has been far too lenient…”

El Nix's eye nodded in understanding. "Indeed. The previous emperors were indeed far too lenient on the nobility. In their eyes, the commoners are but tools to use for their own ends and entertainment. I have been trying to reign them in. But they've stopped my progress at every turn." El Nix reached underneath the list he made to pull out another document and gave it to Ignotus. “Just recently, I tried to have this decree ratified. I’m sure you can see why they refused.”

Ignotus took the document and gave it a look. El Nix saw the man’s eyes widen as they raced across the page. “You… were going to abolish slavery? And give better education opportunities to the lower class?”

El Nix nodded. “At least for humans. It’s far too early to give rights to demi-humans. But with time, I was hoping to put an end to that wasteful and abhorrent practice. But the nobles want to maintain their opulent lifestyles, even at the expense of those they’re meant to serve.”

Ignotus gave the Emperor a strange look. "You… really mean that, don't you?"

“Of course,” El Nix replied. “A king’s duty serves his people, not the other way around. And regardless of where we start, everyone has the potential to change and become something great. To bring some good into the world. Limiting that potential for the sake of your own personal benefit that ends the moment you die is short-sighted and will only hurt the kingdom in the long run.”

“Huh….” Ignotus went. “So… why are the nobles still doing whatever they want? If you’re the king….”

EL Nix sighed. “I’ve been trying to, but if I displease too many at once, I’ll be dethroned, and everything I’ve worked to build will crumble. I’m still a young emperor, and I currently don’t have enough backing to cull them…”

Suddenly, El Nix’s gaze fixed on Ignotus. His eyes flickered with realization, and he smiled. “Unless….”

Ignotus raised an eyebrow. “Unless…?”

“Ignotus… why are you here?” El Nix asked.

The young warrior scuffed in agitation. “Did you not hear a word I just said?”

"I did," the Emperor replied. "I'm asking why you personally are here. What about that situation compelled you to march up to the castle by yourself, knowing full well that the castle was heavily guarded, just to confront me? It didn’t involve you in any way, and yet you felt compelled to step in. Why?”

Ignotus gave the Emperor a look like he had just told him that fire was cold. "What do you mean, 'why'? What person _wouldn’t _intervene when someone's about to get raped, even if the perp is a noble?"

“I’m not asking why you got involved in that. I’m asking why you felt compelled to go so far as to single-handedly approach my castle? Why you felt you that you personally needed to face me?”

Ignotus blinked, looking down at the ground thoughtfully. “How… do I put this?” Ignotus went silent for a moment, before looking back up at the Emperor. "I've always been unable to just ignore a problem that's right in front of me, even if it doesn't affect me. I… just hate the idea of something being done wrong or other people getting hurt when it's preventable. And most of all, I've always hated bullies. Seeing those nobles treat those people like that like they're garbage… like they're nothing… it pissed me off!" Ignotus’s hands clenched in fury. "I couldn't just stand by and do nothing! Not when I had the power to stop it! When it kept happening again and again, I just knew I couldn't let this keep happening, and if I had to go all the way to the top and beat the shit out the Emperor who was content to let it happen, so be it! If I didn't act, who was?"

_A strong sense of justice. _The Emperor nodded in response to Ignotus’s words. “And you didn’t care about any harm that would befall you?”

Ignotus shook his head. "I would rather die than let others get hurt and not having to have tried anything. Besides…." Ignotus gave a feral grin, showing sharp teeth. “It’s not your guards could have laid a finger on me?”

“How powerful are you, Ignotus?" the Emperor asked.

Ignotus blinked, and then turned to the wall. “One sec….” He walked to wall of the castle, took a deep breath, and punched. The wall crumbled immediately, revealing the vast city several floors below.

“That was about… a quarter of my strength.” Ignotus said, turned back to face the gawking Emperor and advisor.

The Emperor blinked again, and then without warning, burst into laughter. "Excellent, excellent!" El Nix stepped towards Ignotus and put his hand on his shoulder. “It’s decided then. You’re hired!”

“Uh…” Ignotus was at a loss for word for a moment. “For what?”

“You clearly care for the common folk. After all, you stormed my castle all by yourself just to confront me on the actions of the nobles. What’s more, you’re strong. So strong I don’t think anyone would dare make a move against you once they know who you are. You wish to put a stop to the nobles tormenting the citizens? So do I. Allow me to put you in a position to do just that!”

Ignotus gave a doubtful frown. “What sort of position?”

“My official head of the guard and executioner!” El Nix announced. “Your job will be to hunt down the nobles who broke their vow to protect the citizens and execute them in the eyes of the public! You will be the sword I use to enforce the law and the shield of the people I swore to serve! No noble will dare to break the law with you at the head of enforcement!”

“I dunno...I originally came here thinking I'd have to beat your ass and work my way from there, so the idea of working for you is a bit sudden, to say the least.”

"I know, but I promise, we'll treat you well. You'll be given the highest privileges of a knight, food and shelter, and the best possible equipment. You'll be taken care of as long as you serve by my side. And most importantly…" The Emperor's eyes narrowed in determination. "You'll help me bring the change that you and I want to see. What do you say, warrior? Will you help me revolutionize my country?"

Ignotus eyes suddenly widened in surprise. Then, he started to laugh. "'Revolutionize the country,' eh? Gods, you sound just like him...”

"Oh?" the Emperor questioned.

"'If it cannot break out of its shell, the chick will die without ever being born.'" The crimson knight said through his laughter. "'We are the chick the world is our egg. If we don't crack the world's shell, we will die without ever truly being born. Smash the world's shell, for the revolution of the world!'"

The knight’s laughter seized, and there was a content smile on his face. “That’s something my friend Lucis used to say. Something he wanted to do. 'Revolutionize the world….'"

Ignotus’s crimson irises changed before El Nix’s eyes, shifted from crimson red to sapphire blue. “All right, your majesty. You’ve got yourself a deal. Let’s give this a shot.”

El Nix grinned in triumph. “Excellent….”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, scorpioblueeyes here. As my co-author said, we’ll be working on this fic together. From here on out, as new characters get introduced we’ll be putting a sort of character page for them in the end notes, which will include their name, race, class, and stats (Both their equivalent Overlord stats and their stats from our original work “The Roamers”) as well as some of their more important abilities. For anyone wanting some context, here are Ainz’s official stats and abilities from the wiki https://overlordmaruyama.fandom.com/wiki/Ainz_Ooal_Gown/Abilities_and_Powers
> 
> Oh, and don’t worry too much about the unique stats and abilities like “Imperium”, those will all be explained in a future chapter. Anyway, here’s our first character sheet, this one for Ignotus Hayes, the Crimson Knight. 
> 
> Ignotus Hayes  
Race: Demigod  
Class: Herculean
> 
> Total level: 125
> 
> PRESENT WORLD APPROXIMATE STATUS:
> 
> HP: 120  
MP: 0  
PHY ATK: 90  
PHY DEF: 90  
AGILITY: 55  
MAG ATK: 0  
MAG DEF: 80  
RESISTANCE: 65  
SPECIAL ABILITY: 100+
> 
> CONVERTING STATUS TO NATIVE WORLD...COMPLETE.
> 
> Vitality: 190  
Aura: 195(195)  
Strength: 60  
Endurance: 40  
Intelligence: 15  
Wisdom: 20  
Dexterity: 30  
Agility: 30  
Luck: 10
> 
> Imperium: War’s Eldest Son. Grants multiple abilities: Rage, Battle Sense, Empath,  
Command, Order, Pyrophage, Pyrokinetic, Phoenix Flame. See “Abilities” page for further description.
> 
> Equipment: (Conqueror’s Blade) CLARENT (Broadsword) (Soul Sword)
> 
> SPECIAL RACIAL ABILITY DETECTED: Divine Cells
> 
> Abilities:
> 
> Rage: boosts Aura stat based on passionate emotions felt, such as anger. WARNING: if Rage reaches value greater than or equal to 100, hidden skill “God of Destruction” will activate.
> 
> Battle sense: a precognitive ability that allows one to see and feel incoming attacks in advance.
> 
> Empath: allows one to feel and manipulate the emotions of others to a certain extent.
> 
> Command: allows one to link the Auras of those serving directly under them.
> 
> Order: allows one to impose their will on another person, forcing them to obey one’s commands if successful. Is more effective on those that follow a hierarchy.
> 
> Pyrophage: allows one to convert fire and heat to Aura
> 
> Pyrokinetic: allows one to convert Aura to fire and heat
> 
> Phoenix Flame: allows one to purge all manner of impurities from body, mind, and soul. Is excruciatingly painful if proficiency is low. Can burn away souls if left uncontrolled.
> 
> Divine Cells: allows one to sacrifice Aura to boost any other stat.
> 
> God of Destruction: SKILL EFFECTS HIDDEN


End file.
